Plot:
Coyote is a homeless man who turns to a werewolf by night, and to keep himself sane during the day he spends his squatting life by taking drugs and listening to music.

Our thoughts:
Not to be confused with the upcoming feature "Coyote" by our good friend Trevor Juenger. This "Coyote" is a short film by Joel Potrykus who made the excellent "Ape" that I reviewed recently. After seeing "Ape" I knew I had to check out his previous work, and to my surprise "Coyote"... took me by surprise!

I just went straight into it without reading the plot, so when this super-8 short film went from being about a homeless junkie who enjoys listening to music, to him turning into a werewolf I was really surprised. And not only that, the first werewolf shot is actually genuinely creepy and got under my skin a bit: perhaps it was the mix of super-8 quality, a junkie, the rather subtle werewolf make-up and Joshua Burge nailing the agony in his acting. Sure, it plays mostly as a tribute to the transformation scene in "An American Werewolf in London", but it still managed to be very effective.

"Coyote" is interesting because like "Ape" it stays very true to reality for most of the time, but then take really weird turns that you're not prepared for. That this turn was to transform our junkie to a werewolf just made it so much more exciting: I'm a huge fan of werewolves, as you know.

"Coyote" does suffer a bit for not being about the plot as much as the strangeness and style. It's simply showing a short period of time in the life of a junkie who turns into a werewolf. Had it been a feature, it could've been a much more rewarding experience. That said, I was very pleasantly surprised by this because it carries a great atmosphere, and even though it didn't grab me emotionally I can't deny the joy I felt from the werewolf scene. Joel Potrykus and Joshua Burge are clearly a great team.